IEA report – "Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2013"
Article Type: Features From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 24, Issue 5.
This is the International Energy Agency's (IEA) third comprehensive tracking of progress in clean energy technology which aims to serve as a reality check for policy makers. The review examines the latest developments in key clean energy technologies and asks questions such as:
- 1.
To what extent are clean energy technologies being used?
- 2.
What is being done to foster necessary markets?
- 3.
How are individual technologies performing and developing?
Each technology and sector is tracked against interim 2020 targets in the IEA 2012 Energy Technology Perspectives 2°C scenario, which lays out pathways to a sustainable energy system in 2050. Key messages that emerge in the report,include: that progress has not been fast enough, large market failures are preventing clean energy solutions from being taken up, and considerable energy-efficiency potential remains untapped. The report also introduces a new IEA index which tracks the carbon intensity of energy supply since 1970, and further reinforces the need for more concerted effort. Details can be seen at: www.iea.org/publications/TCEP_web.pdf?dm_i=UP41F147,7TKVE4,4U8XM,1
